Hand-assembled fabric covered buttons



March 29, 1960 A. DRlTZ 2,930,093

HAND-ASSEMBLED FABRIC COVERED BUTTONS Filed Nov. 25 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet1 IN V EN TOR.

- FIG 5 ARTHUR DR/TZ ATTORNEY March 29, 1960 A. DRITZ HAND-ASSEMBLEDFABRIC COVERED BUTTONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 25 1955 FIG. 7

FIG/0 INVENTOR. ARTHUR DR/TZ ATTORNEY 7 HAND-ASSEMBLED FABRIC COVEREDBU'I TONS" Arthur Dritz, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to John Dritz 8r Sons,New York, N .Y., a partnership Application November 25, 1955, Serial No.548,937

6 Claims. (Cl. 24-113) 7 The present invention relates'to ahand-assembled fabric covered button and a method for producing the vsame.

Certain style buttons are covered with a sheet fabric such as textilecloth which matches, blends or contrasts with the material of which agarment is made. A home dressmaker who buys a bolt of material and apattern, and from them makes a garment, and who desiresto use coveredbuttons therewith, makes her own covered buttons to match the dressmaterial. To that end various kits are now offered for sale, those kitscomprising interfitting button shell and button base members togetherwith tools for securing those members together. The home dressmaker musttake pieces of the covering material which she has selected, cut them tosuitable disk shape, spread those pieces over the button shell so as tocover the latter, tuck into the shell interior the peripheral portion ofcovering material, taking care that the covering sheet is tautly andsmoothly drawn over the entire surface of said button shell and thetucked-in portion held securely in place and then assemble the buttonshell and base members without disarranging the covering ma-. terial inany way. These operations are difficult; for which the operator mustacquire a knack or skill, acquired only through long experience. Thedelicate manipulative operations involved have heretofore given rise toconsiderable frustration on the part of the individual home dressmaker,as well as to considerable wastage of material and consumption of time.

A major difiiculty in these operations of covering and assembling thebutton resides, after drawing the fabric. covering sheet tautly over thebutton shell, in tucking into the shell interior the peripheral portionof thefabric covering sheet and holding or retaining the same intucked-in condition against the pull exerted by the taut shell coveredportion and against the inherent or natural springiness of theperipheral fabric material which causes it to unfold itself from thetucked-in condition. Even when, asin some makes, the button shell isprovided at its rim with anchoring teeth for embedment into the fabric,difficulty is experienced not only in anchoring the fabric but inholding or retaining the tucked-in peripheral portion prior to thesecuring of the button base as well as when the button base is securedto the assembly.

A prime object of my present invention centers about the provision of ahand-assembled fabric covered button and a method of covering andassembling the same which effectively solves this major difliculty. Inits essence, the principle of the present invention resides in applyingat least over the peripheral portion, and in a modification over theentire portion, of the fabric covering sheet a layer of a pliable andform-retaining material, the said material layer functioning to overcomethe natural springiness of the tucked-in peripheral portion of thefabric covering and to impart thereto its form retaining property.Thereby the peripheral portion of the fabric covering material whenfolded and tucked into the interior of the button shell retains itsfolded and tucked-in condition. and also holds the shell. coveredportion of base.

An ancillary object of the present invention resides in the provision ofan assisting tool, of an exceedingly simple form and structure, designedto enable the covering material to be drawn uniformly and tautly overthe button shell in the steps of applying the fabric covering sheet tothe button shell.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing objects and such other objects asmay hereinafter appear, my invention relates to the hand-assembledfabric covered button, the method thereof and the assisting tool usedtherewith which are sought to be defined in the appended claims takentogether with the following specification and the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the parts which are used tomake the fabric covered button of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a form of a pliable and form retainingmaterial used in the practice of the invention; 7 g

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the same isapplied to the fabric covering material;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing'the nextstep in producing the,fabric covering with the said layer of the pliable and form retainingmaterial applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a view taken in cross-section showing the first step in themethod of covering the button shell, utilizing the assisting tool of theinvention; 7

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a second step in the methodof covering the shell;

Fig. 7 is a view taken in cross-section of the fully assembled buttonproduced by the method;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 and showing a modification;

Figs. 9 through 11 are views similar to Figs. 2 through 4 but showing amodification of the applied layer of the pliable and form retainingmaterial; and

Fig. 12 is a cross-section view of an assembled button utilizing themodification shown in Figs. 9 to 11.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings and having reference firstto Fig. 7 thereof, the hand-assembled fabric covered button of thepresent invention comprises a button shell S, a button base B, matingmeans m on said button shell and button base for securing the two inassembled relation, a fabric covering C for said button shell, theperipheral portion of which is tucked into the interior of said shellbetween the same and the button base, and a layer of a pliable andform-retaining material L, which in the form of the invention shown inFig. 7 is applied over the peripheral tucked-in portion of the fabriccovering C, the material of said applied, layer L, being of a pliableand form retaining character, functioning to overcome the naturalunfolding tendency and springiness of the tucked-in peripheral portionof the fabric covering and functioning to impart to the latter a formretaining property.

The shell and base parts of thebutton may be of any known design orstructure in which the base and shell have interfitting or inter-lockingmeans for securing the two together; such known structures includebuttons in which the interfitting and securing parts may be locatedeither at the center of the button or at its rim; in the formexemplified in Fig. 7, such securing means is located at the rim andcomprises an inturned flange formed in the button shell with whichcooperates an out-turned flange or rib r in the base, which with thematerial of the covering C between them, form internesting andinterlocking elements. The covering material C may be Patented Mar. 29,196 0 any desired material such as cloth, felt, plastic or the like,which materials while flexible and foldable do not possess the propertyof retaining their shape when folded or flexed particularly when understress. The material of'the. layer Lis preferably a metal foil. Such'a'material although pliable or flexible retains the *form or shape intowhich it is flexed or folded; and when applied or secured to the fabricmaterial imparts to the latter its form retaining characteristic so thatwhen the laminated assembly is folded and tucked in its shape will beretained even against stress or strain.

In Fig. l of the drawings I show parts which are used. to make theassembled button just described, these parts comprising the button shellS, the button base B,'a fabric material F from which the button coveringis made, an element E which is supplied to the home dressmaker with abutton kit and which embodies the layer L to be applied and a tool Twhich is used as an assisting member in the assembling method. Theelement E, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprises in the form there shown,an annulus 10 made of metal foil, such as tin or lead foil, coated witha pressure sensitive adhesive 12 which is covered and protected by anannulus 14 of a backing material such as glassine paper and whichtherefore may be readily stripped from the foil. When so stripped thefoil layer 12 is placed over and adhered to'the fabric material F asillustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and thereafter the fabric F iscut around the outer edge of the foil, the applied foil being used as atemplate and guide for the cutting of the fabric material to'the properdisc size, the resulting member being that shown in Fig. 4 of thedrawings comprising the fabric material which now is in the shape of thefabric covering C having adhered" thereto what is now the layer L of thefoil material.

The home dressmaker after performing these preliminary operations is nowready to cover and assemble the button. This may be done by hand but isillustrated'in connection with the assisting tool T in Figs. 5 and 6 ofthe drawings. In either case the button shell S is first covered withthe fabric covering Cas shown in Fig. 5, the covering being pulledsmoothly and'tautly over the body of the shell after which the peripheryp of the covering, comprising in this case the lamination of thecovering material and the foil layer is folded or tucked in as shown inFig. 6 of the drawings. By dint of the functioning of the layer ofpliable and form-retaining -material L as above described, the folded ortucked-in portion holds its shape as depicted in Fig. 6 and resists anytendency to spring out or be pulled out even under the tension of thetaut portion of the covering. The assembly shown in Fig. 6 may then behandledas a unit without difiiculty for the application and securingthereto of the button base B in the manner shown in Fig. 7 of thedrawings.

The assisting tool T is employed to aid in the shell covering operation.This tool T comprises a ring or annulus as shown in Fig. 1 open at thebottom, the size and shape of the internal cavity '16 thereofcorresponding to that of the exterior of the button shell S andpreferably having a slight clearance all around the button base E whichclearance is, however, somewhat lessthan the thickness of the coveringmaterial C. Thus the internal diameter of the cavity 16 is slightlygreater than the external diameter of the shell S, and preferably equalto or less than the external diameter of the base B plus twice thethickness of the covering sheet C. The internal surface of the cavity 16is frictional in nature. While the ring T may be made of rigid material,it ispreferred to make it of soft, resiliently formed material such asrubher so that the internal surface of thecavity '16" will have thedesired frictional characteristic and so that it may readily accommodateitself to slight differences in the dimensions of the shell S and thethicknesses of the various cover sheets which might beemployedtherewith.

The ring T is provided at its upper end withan inwardly extending rim 18defining -a restricted entrant opening which generally conforms in shapeto the shell S, but the internal diameter of which is somewhat less thanthe external diameter of the said shell S. The said rim 18 is made ofsome soft and readily resiliently deformable material such as rubber,and in the preferred embodiment herein illustrated, it is integral withand formed of the same material as the ring T itself.

In use the ring T is placed upon a table or other supporting surfaceswith its rim 18 uppermost, the cover sheet C is placed thereover asshown in Fig. 5 and the shell S is placed on top of the cover sheet andcentered with respect to the rim opening. The button-assembly shown inFig. 5 is then pushed down into the cavity 16 pulling the sheet coveralong with it. The soft and resiliently deformable material 18 yields topermit this motion, exercising an appreciable frictional drawing on thecover sheet C, thus drawing the cover sheet tautly over the outersurface of the button shell S. By reason of the described construction,the cover sheet will be retained in snugly taut position after thebutton shell has come to rest, after which the tucking in or folding inoperation, result of which is depicted in Fig. 6. may take place.

In Fig. 8 of the drawings I show the invention applied to a modifiedbutton structure in which the button back is formed with means to effecta more taut drawing of the covering onto the shell. In thismodification, the parts similar to the parts shown in Fig. 7 areindicated by similar but primed reference characters. The button backB', for the purpose indicated, is provided at its rim with the spacedteeth 20.

In all structural forms of the invention, when the parts are assembledas shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, the metal foil ring bends andis crumpled under finger pressure and forms a seal between the flange orrib r of the base and the inturned flange f in the button shell. Thisaids in preventing the covering material from working itself loose outof the assembled button and eliminates the need for penetrating pointsor friction pressure to be used in assembling the button parts and infirmly retaining the covering material. As a result, the base B may bemade not only simpler but narrower in diameter, allowing more of aspacing between its flange or rib r and the flange f of the buttonshell. As a result of this relatively loose fit, a home dressmaker mayeasily compress the base B into the button shell S using only a lightfinger pressure. This is to be contrasted with other types of homecovered buttons where it is difficult to insert the back into the buttonshell with finger pressure, points or a pressure fit being required toretain the covering material firmly in the assembled button; in suchother structures a forcible blow is required for the insertion of theback piece into the button shell.

While, to carry out the results described, it is only necessary tolaminate the peripheral portion of the covering material with theapplied layer L, such layer may be applied and adhered to the entiresurface of a covering material for a purpose to be presently described.This is illustrated in Figs. 9 to ll of the drawings wherein the elementE comprises a disc-shaped metal foil 10 coated with the adhesive l2 andprotected by a suitable, such as a glassine, covering 14 When theglassine covering is removed the metal foil 10 is adheringly applied tothe fabric F and the fabric is cut around the rim of the metal layer,the latter being used as a guide and template for this purpose, theresulting element being shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings as comprisingthe disc layer L adhered to the covering C This resulting member isemployed in the same manner as described heretofore; and when used withbutton elements such as shown in Fig. 8, results in the production of acovered button as shown in Fig. 12. In Fig. 12 the button shell isdesignatedas S and the button back as B This modification involving theuse of a layer such as a metal foil over the entire surface of thefabric is particularly serviceable for button shells which have a relieffigure. The applied layer in imparting a form retaining property to theentire surface of the fabric covering permits the covering material tobe pressed onto the shell so that the figure in relief may betransferred and become visible in the button cover. I g

The hand-assembled covered button of the present invention, the methodthereof, the structure and use of the assisting tool and the variousadvantages of the same will in the main be fully apparent from theabove-detailed description thereof. It will be further apparent thatchanges may be made in the structure of the parts and the practice ofthe steps of the method without departing from the spirit of theinvention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A hand-assembled fabric covered button comprising a button shell, abutton base, mating means on said button shell and button base forsecuring the two in assembled relation, and a fabric covering for saidbutton shell having a peripheral portion tucked into the interior ofsaid shell between the same and the button base, the said fabriccovering having applied to the inside face thereof and at least over itssaid peripheral portion a layer of metal foil constituting a pliable andform retaining material, said material having the property to overcomethe natural springiness of the tucked-in peripheral portion of thefabric covering and to impart thereto its form retaining property.

2. A hand-assembled fabric covered button comprising a button shell, abutton base, mating means on said button shell and button base forsecuring the two in assembled relation, and a fabric covering for saidbutton shell having a peripheral portion tucked into the interior ofshell between the same and the button base, the said fabric coveringhaving applied to the inside face thereof and over its said peripheralportion a layer of metal foil constituting a pliable and form retainingmaterial, said material having the property to overcome the naturalspringiness of the tucked-in peripheral portionv of the fabric coveringand to impart thereto its form retaining property.

3. A hand-assembled cloth covered button comprising a button shell, abutton base, peripheral internesting mating means on said button shelland button base for securing the two in assembled relation, and a clothcovering for said button shell having a peripheral portion tucked-intothe interior of shell between the same and the button base and betweenthe internesting mating means thereof, the said cloth covering havingapplied at least over its said peripheral portion a layer of a pliableand form retaining metal foil, said applied layer having the property toovercome the natural springiness of the tucked-in peripheral portion ofthe cloth covering and to impart thereto its form retaining property. I

4. The method of covering and assembling a fabric covered button of thetype comprising a button shell, a button base, both provided with matingmeans for se curing the two in assembled relation, and a fabric covering for the the button shell having a peripheral portion tucked into theinterior of the shell between the same and the button base, whichconsists in applying to the inside face of the fabric at least over thesaid peripheral portion of the fabric covering a layer of metal foilconstituting pliable and form retaining material, in then covering thebutton shell with said fabric covering and tucking into the shellinterior the peripheral portion of said fabric covering with its appliedlayer of. material,

' said material functioning to overcome the natural springimeans forsecuring the two in assembled relation, and a' cloth covering for thebutton shell having a peripheral portion tucked into the interior of theshell between the same and the button base and between the internestingmating means thereof, which consists in applying over the saidperipheral portion of the cloth covering a layer of metal foilconstituting a pliable and form retaining material, in then coveringthe'button shell with said cloth covering and tucking into the shellinterior the'peripheral portion of said covering with its applied layerofmaterial, said material functioning to overcome the naturalspringiness of the tucked-in peripheral portion of the cloth coveringand imparting thereto its form retaining property, and invthen securingthe button base to the resulting assembly with the said peripheralportion of the fabric and its applied layer of material secured betweenthe shell and the button base.

6. The method of covering and assembling a fabric covered button of thetype comprising a button shell,

a button base, both provided with mating means for securing the two inassembled relation, and a fabric covering for the button shell having aperipheral portion tucked into the interior of the shell between thesame and the button base, which consists in applying to the inside faceof said fabriccovering a layer of metal foil constituting a pliable andform retaining material, in then covering the button shell with saidfabric covering and tucking into the shell interior the peripheralportion" of the covering with the layer of material applied thereto,said material function to overcome the natural springiness of the fabriccovering and imparting thereto its form retaining property, and in thensecuring the button base to the resulting assembly with the saidperipheral portion of the fabric and its applied layer of materialsecured between the shell and the button base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

